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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE   

Investigating the student veteran dropout reality at the University of Wisconsin-Madison

 [Outpost 422 provides insight through lived experience]

 Madison, Wis, October 11, 2024—The readjustment and reintegration crucible student veterans face at the University of Wisconsin-Madison is the reality they will most likely not graduate.

The university’s student veteran retention trends are on a steady decline since the pandemic revealing those who enroll eventually drop out by the end of their freshman year. The university’s “Retention and Graduation Rates” research findings, provided by the Office of the Provost, revealed that a low 42.9 percent of those who enrolled in 2020,  listed amongst the “Military Student Veterans” category, would likely graduate after their third year. The needs of student veterans and their success must be investigated and is one of the research topics of discussion at Outpost 422—the gonzo research diary of a nontraditional disabled student veteran who branded his Wisconsin G.I. Bill journey while attending multiple campuses in 2022.

The UW Madison/Madison College transfer agreement experience

Preparation for transferring is also another barrier with enrolling in the Madison College/UW Madison transfer agreement, which starts the student veteran out at the Truax campus. The university’s professors who teach at Madison College, screen students prior to transfer and mark the ones who are not a good fit with a “BC” letter grade knowing the student must achieve a 2.7 GPA. A “BC” grade limits the ability to access resources available when transferring.

“Why should I have to deal with you?” A UW Madison alumnae speech professor teaching at Madison College in 2019, who openly discussed how the “BC” bad mark works, asked Outpost 422’s founder after class. “You are just going to drop out anyway.”

UW Madison transfer instruction at Madison College prepares student veterans by offering to meet with them after class and during office hours, along with writing support that the university is not required to provide, thus creating confusion and loose ends along with social isolation after transferring. Student veterans benefit when social supports such as a chaplain or on-site social worker are provided on campus by the Dept. of Veterans Affairs for perception checking before approaching a professor. The president of the university will not endorse providing VA social workers on campus through the Veterans Integration to Academic Leadership Program (VITAL) on university campuses due to being a federal program at a state facility, meanwhile Madison College does.

There is a solution. Outpost 422 is a portfolio of successful class projects along with a journal of conflict resolution. A graduated veteran helps newly enrolled and currently enrolled veterans succeed, which is the purpose of the free service. The service profiles the student veteran lived experience.

The student veteran, despite the perception of a veteran hating professor, is a valuable resource who stimulates the university with G.I. benefits. The crucible is the perception by student veterans that professors who let their intrusive thoughts manifest are protected, while the student deals with academic abuse. The solution is simple: provide student veterans with a mentoring service modeled by the brand Outpost 422.

• The brand shares strategies that help future student veterans succeed.
• The brand also offers a direct line of support easily found in the contact section of the toolbar of the website (click on the ###OP422 link below).
• The Facebook page shares the experience.
• The website provides resources like the University of Wisconsin-Madison writing handbook.
• The service is free and developed by the author who fully exercised the Wisconsin G.I. Bill and is currently being developed at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee for research publication.

If being branded as a badger leads to dropping out, what can be done? Simple. Try enrolling at Madison College and transferring to one of the other universities instead. The Wisconsin G.I. Bill, which does not work like the other federally granted benefits, is a secondary option. The student veteran decides the pathway to success who will not be penalized for a failing grade like federal G.I. benefits.

The professor’s perception of student veterans is the key to unlocking the answer why they feel shunned, especially when a professor preaches communism requiring student veterans endorse. Student veterans deserve respect, and the most recent political neutrality policy adopted by the university is a positive start but cannot enforce at Madison College because the institution is a technical college. Adversarial exchanges stem from universities being underprepared for receiving student veterans according to Student Veterans of America, who acts as research advocate on campus.

“Congruence between self-perceived and other- perceived lack of university support barriers strongly protect against the negative impact of high self-perceived lack of university support barriers on poorer adjustment to college,” researcher Lisa M. McAndrew and her team’s report to the VA shared. “Congruence is less protective when self-perceived.”

While the institution advocates for other protected classes, student veterans fall behind and the discussion about what can be done can easily be answered through the advocacy at Outpost 422. Success can be trained through the VA’s “5 Column Thought Record” changing how the veteran perceives their relationship with their professor, then request a mediator de-escalate and connect the professor with options when dealing with navigating the professor’s lack of respect and frustration. Adopting VITAL on all college campuses is a start.

As a registered trademarked journalism reporting service, the brand gives student veterans a voice in the press. The reporting outlet also seeks diary contributions and can do so by filling out the contact form for a consultation. Stigma follows student veterans each semester and Outpost 422 helps navigate the way out.

###OP422